BOC facing £70m US pension claim

THE legal cloud hanging over BOC darkened on Thursday after it revealed its US pension fund faced a claim potentially worth nearly £70m.

The industrial gases group is already facing suits from former welders who claim that manganese fumes led to them developing Parkinson's disease.

The pension claim - former staff say their pension payouts were miscalculated - will be heard in Illinois next Friday.

BOC's pre-tax profit climbed 15% to £395.1m at constant exchange rates for the year ended September. Fourth-quarter operating profit fell to £131.9m from £133.9m a year earlier. BOC blamed US problems. It said the dollar's weakening would lead to a £7m hit in 2004.